EX-COMMISSIONER ALLOWED TO RUN FOR HIS OLD JOB

A Miami-Dade Circuit judge ruled Friday that indicted former County Commissioner James Burke may run for his old seat in a special election Tuesday.

Judge Bernard Shapiro threw out a lawsuit seeking to block Burke's candidacy, saying that the state Constitution does not expressly permit him to do so. Burke's opponents immediately filed an appeal, hoping to keep Burke out of the race. A hearing is scheduled Monday at the 3rd District Court of Appeal.

"We are confident that the courts will ultimately rule that James Burke is ineligible," attorney H.T. Smith said.

Burke is the front-runner in Tuesday's special election to fill the District 2 seat on the Miami-Dade Commission.

Burke, 50, held the seat until Jan. 8, when he was suspended from office by Gov. Lawton Chiles just hours after being indicted on bribery charges by a federal grand jury.

Burke, who faces a trial later this year, denies the charges.

Even though he was suspended from office, Burke resigned.

The Miami-Dade County Commission voted to hold the special election to fill the seat.

Then Burke entered the race.

On Friday, he expressed confidence that Shapiro's ruling would not be overturned.

"I wasn't really concerned because it was more a political case more than a great test of law," Burke said. "I'm even less concerned about the appeal."